HOUSTON - Behind guarded doors at the Institute for Rehabilitation and Research, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords struggles to regain her voice, her mobility and her memory.

HOUSTON - Behind guarded doors at the Institute for Rehabilitation and Research, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords struggles to regain her voice, her mobility and her memory.

Holding her hand is husband and astronaut Mark Kelly, who has dropped almost everything to help Giffords recover from a near-fatal gunshot wound in the head.

Since the power couple married in 2007, they have lived intertwined but independent lives. That changed when Giffords was nearly killed Jan.8 during a rampage in front of a Tucson, Ariz., grocery store in which six people died. The faithful Kelly has been a nearly permanent fixture in her hospital room: her advocate, her cheerleader and her guard.

Although Giffords has miles to go in her recovery, she has responded to Kelly with back rubs and neck rubs. She plays with his wedding ring. As the world watches, both do their best to live out their marriage vows.

Friends predict that this sad situation will improve in the next weeks and months. Kelly will make the difficult decision to resume training for his fourth shuttle launch in April, they believe, and, in time, the ebullient three-term congresswoman will battle back from her injuries and return to Washington.

"When they look back on this years from now, Gabby and Mark will remember a tough and trying time," said old friend and businessman Tilman Fertitta, "but she will be back in Congress. He will be a happy astronaut."

Kelly, 46, grew up in West Orange, N.J. He's a highly educated, decorated Navy captain and a veteran of three shuttle missions. He's known to be calm, unflappable. When problems arise, friends say, he's Mr. Fix-it, Mr. Cool.

A 2003 introduction

Giffords, 40, grew up in Tucson, a tomboy who loved horses, motorcycles and in-line skates. After earning multiple degrees and a Fulbright scholarship, she ran her family's tire business before entering politics. The congresswoman was and is enormously popular in her home state of Arizona. Close friends' voices quaver as they explain her gentle, luminous interior and seemingly dent-proof exterior.

Giffords and Kelly met in 2003, on a trip designed to improve relations between the United States and China. At the time, he was married and she was in a relationship.

In 2004, when both were single again, they had their first date as they toured the Arizona State Prison in Florence. He was interested in the electric chair - and Giffords.

He told friends and reporters, "She had it all: Beautiful, smart, hard-working, balanced, fun to be with, and she laughed at my jokes."

Wedding at a ranch

Although Giffords had never married, she did date.

Ken Cheuvront, an old friend and recently retired Arizona politician, said he so disapproved of the men Giffords went out with, including one "creep" in particular, that he told her, "Look, I'm sick of meeting these guys."

When Kelly introduced himself to Cheuvront before one of Giffords' swearing-in ceremonies, Cheuvront was both relieved and delighted.

"I was really impressed with Mark," Cheuvront said. "And I think he was just what she was looking for, though she wouldn't admit it. A strong man. A military man. A he-man."

The couple married on a ranch about 40 miles south of Tucson almost four years ago. They wanted an environmentally conscious celebration, so the forks and plates were biodegradeable, carpooling was encouraged and everything that could be borrowed or reused was, even Giffords' wedding dress.

The gown, designed by Vera Wang, had been worn the first time by the daughter of the wedding planner.

The food was regional Mexican. The wine was supplied by Cheuvront, who is choosy about such things.

"I didn't trust Gabby," he said fondly. "She likes to be frugal."

Kelly had a "groomswoman" among his attendants, and Giffords had a "bridesman."

It was that kind of wedding: Outdoors. Romantic. Relaxed.

A few skeptics wondered how the couple could maintain their unconventional, long-distance relationship. Kelly lives in League City, Texas, and Giffords divides her time between Tucson and Washington.

Robert Tijerina, one of Kelly's Houston friends, said the couple never felt constrained to do things the conventional way.

"Mark is fascinated with her work," said Tijerina, president of Priority 1 Aviation. "And Gabby is fascinated with his work. They are very supportive of each other's careers."

Added Elaine Richardson, another veteran of Arizona politics and a bridesmaid, "Commuting is the life Gabby and Mark know and love."

Danger at the office

Over the years, it seemed a given that Kelly, the NASA pilot and shuttle commander, was the spouse with the more-dangerous job.

"But if Gabby was frightened for his safety, she didn't show it," Tijerina said. "She stayed positive for him."

And Kelly returned the favor. When vandals smashed Giffords' Tucson office windows after the vote on the health-care bill last year (she is a Democrat and voted to approve the bill), he was concerned but tried not to overreact.

At least, that was the tone both Giffords and Kelly tried to set in public.

Privately, according to some news reports, Giffords was frightened by the overheated political climate in Arizona and was afraid of being shot. Apparently, it was a subject she and Kelly actually discussed.

In the end, however, the couple must have decided to keep on as they always had. He ran his career, and she ran hers. Both seemed to accept that with great challenges come considerable risks.

Support for both careers

Tijerina said that Giffords participated in Kelly's launches with enthusiasm.

Similarly, Kelly often played the role of Giffords' supportive spouse. She had been heavily involved in state politics before she decided to run for Congress.

At one point, she told a friend she was concerned that such an arduous campaign might scare away Kelly, then her boyfriend. But instead, he encouraged her.

No one knows how long it will take her to recover. Doctors say she is doing remarkably well. Still, they talk in terms of months and years.

Kelly doesn't have much time to decide whether he's going to be aboard the space shuttle when it launches in a few months.

Friends hope he will make the commitment and go. Giffords isn't able to speak for herself yet, but they think that's what she would want him to do.